UMTravels

Getting all settled in here in Indio. Didn’t leave the grounds all day. Speaking of grounds…

And our breakfast:

And our living room:

And one of our decks:

And our other deck, the one that’s always sunny:

Craig ran errands during the day, be I took to the lazy river in the afternoon – pictures of that tomorrow when there is someone to go with me to get the shots.

For dinner I made Osso Bucco with two veal shanks and the remaining lamb blade steak – lots of onions and green beans – braised the shanks in bacon fat before adding all the other ingredients… stunning. Good thing Craig brought a loaf of La Brea Artisan Bread home from his errands to soak up the sauce.

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On the road again, and who is surprised.

Well, actually I was a little surprised today after boarding the one-stop (SFO) flight to PSP (Palm Springs) when my friend SpaceOtter and his boyfriend also boarded to plane. I hadn’t seen them in the waiting area and had no idea they were even travelling today.

But I have to back up a minute and show today’s travel commentary photo:

If you look beyond the Alaska planes you will see three United jets parked on the tarmac (not at gates) – grounded due to Hurricane Sandy.

And since it’s almost Halloween, how about a picture from the board room… spider with planes:

A spider building its web on the window of the Board Room.

So, while I was on the road this came in from my friend, one of the Colonels who I travel with occasionally (they are both retired Air Force) ex-Lt. Colonels who are in the middle of a 42 day cruise

As I mentioned earlier, we’re out in the middle of the ocean………or maybe three-quarters of the way across the Atlantic as I write this, and we’ve lost all of the satellite TV transmissions, except for Fox News. That’s been the case for several days now, and because I’m a news junkie, I’ve watched a lot of the Fox brand of news. I must say it has been a revelation to me in several areas, the first of which is the degree to which the material on the channel is not news, but rather, propaganda. There is a constant drumbeat of outrage against all things either Democrat or Obama; the degree of vitriol has really been a shock to me. They’ve accused Obama of everything other than being the Antichrist. I knew that Fox sees itself as a bastion of conservatism, but what I’ve seen over the past several days goes far beyond that: It is the political voice of an extreme right wing cult, and insists on quick and easy answers to very complex questions.  Every fact, or more often, alleged fact, is presented with a twist to make it as negative as possible toward anything that’s not extreme right wing…..”Third quarter growth is only 2%.”, “Unemployment is just barely under 8%, despite Obama’s promises.”  “Benghazi cover-up continues.”  The distortion and half-truth and innuendo just don’t let up, talking head after talking head after party hack after party hack. It seems to be unending.

I’ve noticed several other things about Fox News that strike me as odd: For example, it refers to other news,  ALL other news,  media as “main stream”, setting itself apart from NBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and other responsible news providers. Also, the people who host the shows with the talking heads ask leading questions: “How terrible was growth in the last quarter?”, and then argue with the folks they’re interviewing if they don’t get the answers they want, not to mention putting words in the mouths of people they interview. Finally, and I’ll shut up after this, Fox News seems to want the attack on the embassy at Benghazi to be as serious as the 9/11 attacks of 10 years ago. While I agree that Benghazi was a bad thing, and the deaths of the Americans there is a tragedy, I don’t see equivalence between the two events, and it’s clear Fox News doesn’t comprehend what has been referred to, correctly in my opinion, as “the fog of war”. I don’t think the President should be criticized for taking  time to figure out what happened, and I do not think that we should have called in close-air support against the attackers and the crowd of on-lookers……….that’s what I think.

Needless to say, THAT got posted to FaceBook.

The plan was for my buddy Craig to pick me up at the airport at 4:30 when my flight got in… the reality was that he had an on-camera interview representing (he’s the President) the Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy which he knew was going to make him a little late, what he didn’t expect was to be rear ended on the way and have to deal with the highway patrol. Think three hours late – gave me time to finish the New Yorker and have a bite to eat. By the time we went shopping, got checked in, dinner was at nine thirty on the deck – one of two comprising about 1000 square feet. The condo itself is about 3600 square feet. Pictures tomorrow.

This was the very full trolley coming up to the room – and what you don’t see are all the grocery and laptop bags hanging off the top.

Off to bed now.

[211.1]

1:30 found me in Ballard with a warehouse full of wine to taste. I got about half way through before a sinus headache took over. Tried, at least, to make it through the wines we have in the shop to get a better idea of how to sell them.

Errands after that, like returning the Saturday wine tasting signs to the shop that were in the car since I won’t be around for this Saturday’s tasting as it is Palm Springs time.

Yikes – four bags for this trip:

• Briefcase
• Bag o’meat (frozen)
• Suitcase
• Box o’wine.

Should only have three on the way back.

And here’s a question. Do I ever get tired of this for dinner?

Cheers.

[210.7]

I almost thought today was going to be a bust at the shop… luckily the last hour was busy which made up for the other 5 hours.

After work it was off to dinner at Swandas – and the ritual dumpster diving (well, the recycling room on his floor). Today’s haul? A slightly used SwissTravel monster suitcase:

And 32 Coke® rewards points, along with the 30+ that Swanda had saved for me. The package that I was also picking up contained the fedora sitting on the handles of the suitcase… bought with Coke® Rewards Points.

I brought a split of Gruet bubbles from the shop, and the remains of the Tempranillo that we were sampling today at the shop – Swanda baked two massive pork loins over a bed of onions, carrots and potatoes – cole slaw on the side.

Home around 8 to work on packing for the next trip.

[212.5] Damn Vegas food.

Up at 5:45am. Ick. But work calls.

At the airport in plenty of time for a little breakfast and a little nap, and a chance to me to get a better shot of my favorite slot machine:

And here is the detail of the upper panel:

This is made more funny by the fact that one of my Faerie Friends in Portland is named Atlas.

You can find all the Vegas pictures at this temporary link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uza14xjsqyjcd02/729TVFdy08

Dropped Salamander at his place and was to work a little after 1pm even with the sucky, rainy day, Seattle traffic.

Crazy day at the shop with just me working except for when the distributors rep (who used to own the wine shop 12^th and Olive, at well, 12^th and Olive) was pouring from 2-4pm. Made the numbers but sometimes it was a little crazy.

Birthday party for Campbell fairly close to the shop – stayed for an hour and a half before heading home to do laundry and collapse.

[? ? ?]

Salamander and I actually made it out of the hotel a little after 9 for our drive to Hoover Dam. I’d done the tunnel tour a couple of times – and LONG ago (pre-9/11) did the Hard Hat Tour (think I still have the hardhat).

Here are some of the shots from the dam tour. Salamander Blair and I atop the visitor center:

The power house on the Nevada side – the Arizona side has a mirrored set.

A set of aluminum doors in a serious deco style to go with the miles of terrazzo floors, some of which are inlaid with patterns:

More examples of the Itailian craftsmanship that was part of the WPA depression-era worker’s relief program.

Sorry about the people shadows on the terrazzo electrical outlet above. Cool work though.

Here is a final shot of the damn from the road that is now closed to through traffic:

We swung through Boulder City to do a little antiquing (I got a couple of license plates) and then through the closed Railroad Museum (only open weekends):

Then it was back to the city to try and track down gay bars for Salamander – we found them, but only by getting ourselves tied up in traffic. Maybe next trip as it’s a bit of a walk (about a mile) from the hotel.

After a couple of drinks in the room (MUCH CHEAPER than drinking out), we are off to the Eiffel Tower attraction here a Paris Las Vegas – it’s dark by the time we get up there to use our free ($8.00 value each) tickets that were part of the package – and the views are stunning:

My final comments about Vegas is the size of the “to-go” cups – and trust me, this is a SMALL one.

We wondered the strip in search of dinner and stumbled across LobsterME where Salamander had the Lobster and Waffles, and for me, the clam chowder (they were out of the Lobster Bisque and the Lobster/Bay Shrimp Ceviché) and the Lobster Mac and Cheese. Too many carbs, but that mac and cheese was damn fine.

Of course we had to get the giant lobster filled with Long Island Ice Tea which was really too sweet – until we got back to the room and cut it with vodka and ice.

Me, I’m in for the night – sensory overload from Vegas.

And we are up early to fly home.

[? ? ?]

SalamanderHellbender wandered the strip while I slept in. It was a little after 10 when I wandered beyond the walls of this particular fantasy land.

And it must be somebodies fantasy land because it’s 10am in the morning and people are wandering around with mini-Coronas in their hand – not to mention the plastic Eiffel towers filled with strawberry daiquiris.

Met up with Salamander in front of Walgreens (checked the Evan Williams index, $24.99, same as Oregon, $6-8 more than California) and we strolled for a bit – he found the location of Krave, a seriously upscale gay-bar that they probably won’t let us in as we aren’t hip enough:

At 11 it was time for a little food for me (Salamander had a light breakfast so he needed food as well). Off to Pinks, the legendary LA-based Hot Dog stand in the Planet Hollywood Complex around the corner. I call all these places “complexes” because casino gambling is such a part of their business.

I had the Ruben Dog (hot dog, grilled pastrami, Swiss, sauerkraut), Salamander had the regular chili dog. Not bad. Wouldn’t mind trying the original one in LA next time I through.

Here are some random shots from the strip starting with the front of our hotel:

Like I said, the paint on the ballon is fading.

And other random shots:

No crossing the street at ground level on the Strip – pedestrian overhead walkways everywhere.

And for that afternoon snack – how to reheat nachos in a hotel room (without using the iron, though I thought about that):

5pm will find us a Mon Ami Gabi for an early dinner courtesy of the Wyndham “Adventure” – you’ll get the report tomorrow.

You will also get the report on how SalamanderHellbender fares tonight getting into Krave – I’ve decided to bag going out for GoGo Boys.

Apparently I’m not Sin City material.

[? ? ?]

A lazy morning around the house being all packed an all – left at 12:45 to run to the shop to drop off two loaves of bread (sent one home with Lucas last night), picked up a check, stuck it an envelope and popped it in the mail, then off to pick up SalamanderHellbender.

Poor Salamander. I moved him from 22C (aisle seat) to 6B – next to me in 6C, and then 4 hours before flight time they upgraded me and by the time I’d logged on, the aisle seat was gone. At least he gets to board early with me.

Dropped the car as MasterPark now that UwayjimayaPark no longer works.

Too long at the ticket counter – apparently when they upgrade you at the last moment, after you’d checked in, suddenly the system wants a flight coupon, not an e-ticket. I’d call that a bug.

They moved the PRE-screened line to Check Point 2, but I wouldn’t be able to use it without abandoning Blair so we went the Check Point 1’s First Class line… mistake, should have used Check Point 2’s First Class line…. Slow, slow, slow. Lesson learned (and good for those not having special access as well).

Eventually through the line and into the Board Room – I think Blair might be ruined for travel without the speed lines, free drinks, free food.

At LAS (airport code for Las Vegas) it was off to the rental car center to see what the Thrifty “Wild Card” car was…. Mercury Marquis – a big white whale for a big white male in Vegas (and one skinnier one). So far so good.

Not so good at check-in as they demanded a $10 a night up-charge for two queens rather than one king (our Wyndham host will hear about that tomorrow) – though that is a funny concept, the two queens needing two queens.

Up to the room for a cocktail before heading out to try and find reasonably prices, reasonably quantitied food in Vegas. What am I thinking, this is Vegas. Hence, the nacho platter that we wisely decided to split:

For scale – that is a WATER GLASS to the left of the plate. SalamanderHellbender and I stuffed ourselves and still took home TWO take home boxes and left some on the plate. Yikes. And not really a good idea at 10pm at night but we were famished.

So, we are staying at the Paris Las Vegas, and I’m thinking it’s starting to get a little “tatty”, the paint on the balloon out front is starting to fade, I’ve got photos of minor upkeep issues in our room, though it does have a lovely view of the planes taking off.

The faux Eiffel Tower – which apparently as part of the package we get to go up in. And SalamanderHellbender on the main Rue (street) inside the complex:

Yes, that’s an inside shot – complete with faux blue cloud ceiling.

That’s it for tonight. Back to the room for the news and David Letterman

[212.2] Which won’t be helped by those nachos.

The bags are packed for the Vegas trip. Even redid the travel documents cover to reflect a change of participants:

Yes, we are staying at the Paris Las Vegas for three nights, all part of this $232 package I got which includes:

• Three nights in a superior room (we’ll see) with two queen beds for two queens
• Priè-fixe dinner for two with two glasses of wine each at 5pm (a little early for me – makes me feel like on the early bird old folks special) on Thursday
• Two tickets to go up in the faux-Eiffel Tower to the observation deck
• Brunch on Friday at the WorldMark property (which we will skip and do the Downunder Tour of Hoover Dam

Didn’t include air, but I got air for lower $200s and a car for $85 for the three days.

Was multi-tasking packing an bread baking. There is a BOOM (Business Owners Of Madrona) mixer at the shop at 5. Well, that was the plan – it got cancelled at the last minute so now I have three bagettes and no one to eat them.

Lamb and salad for dinner.

Night-caps and cables with Jill and the adorable Lucas, Prince of Darkness (sorry, that’s a bad reference to Lucas, the British electrical firm responsible for the worse automotive wiring known to mankind). Jill didn’t want to pay $40 for an HDMI cable to hook up her laptop to her TV/Monitor – and I happen to have a large bucket of cables. She grabbed a VGA cable as well in case the HDMI didn’t pan out.

Vegas Baby – but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

And on a sad not, so far no upgrade to First.

[208.9]

A little work today in the form of a winetasting at 1pm at Cordon Selections – lots of Italian wines, and nice appetizers to boot.

Not a bad way to start an afternoon.

With the tasting done I popped next door to Daniel Smith with the intention of doing some early Christmas shopping for my bro-in-law the artist. Usually I can find something really cool on sale or on the markdown rack. Not today. Damn. Well, there is time, it just needs to be before mid-December when I head back to Santa Fe.

Still no upgrade on my flight to Vegas on Tuesday. Maybe it will happen at check-in – cross your fingers.

A quick run to Safeway for groceries and gas, got some steaks for the freezer off the 30% rack.

And one of those steaks went on the plate tonight.

[209.3]

This Sunday work day is all upside down – everyone in the morning, like $200 in sales the first hour and a special order of $200+ for a 1966 750ml Port. And the late afternoon when I usually get a ton o people? Bubkus.

Who knows, the weather? It did give me time to confirm that I have enough trips planed through the end of the year

My Trips – Purchased

That will leave me with 40,188 EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles) by the end of the year – enough for Alaska Airlines MVP Gold status for next year. To get there I had to book two “mileage runs”:

Yakima on 11-8 – flying out late afternoon, turning around, coming home on the same plane.

Honolulu on 11-13 – flying out of Bellingham late afternoon, coming back on the red-eye after a couple of hours at the airport in the lounge.

Is it worth it? Here are the benefits:

• Unlimited** Complimentary Upgrades anytime on qualifying fares (booked in Y, S, B, M, H, or Value and Full Flex fares), or 72 hours prior to departure on other fares. Qualifying Mileage Planâ„¢ number must be in the reservation.
• Unlimited ability to Upgrade** one companion into First Class when they are traveling with you. Qualifying Mileage Planâ„¢ number must be in the reservation.
• Four one-way electronic MVP® Gold Guest Upgrades awarded annually upon reaching MVP® Gold status.
• Complimentary Upgrades on Delta Air Lines within the U.S. (excluding Hawaii), Canada, Mexico, and select Caribbean destinations.
• First Class Check-In privileges at Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines***.
• Priority AAccessâ„¢ Check-In when traveling on American Airlines
• Waivers on Mileage Plan service charges and ticket change fees on your Alaska Airlines tickets (member only).
• Express Security Lines at Select Airports.
• Priority Boarding on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.
• Checked Baggage Fee Waiver for first two bags on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines for MVP® Gold member and persons traveling in the same reservation. Companion waiver does not apply to group bookings.
• Free Same Day Standby for MVP® Gold member and persons traveling in the same reservation.
• Priority Standby and Waitlist for full flights on Alaska Airlines.
• Preferred Seating on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.
• 50% Discount for Economy Comfort seating on Delta Air Lines international flights.
• 100% Bonus Flight Miles**** on Alaska Airlines, Air France, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, KLM, or LAN.
• Initiation Fee Waived for Alaska Airlines Board Room membership.
• Dedicated phone lines and staff for Alaska Airlines Reservations and Mileage Planâ„¢ Customer Care.
• Give an Expression of Thanks to the Alaska Airlines employee who provided above and beyond service.
• One complimentary Premium Beverage of your choice during your flight when traveling in the main cabin.

Yes, it is to me.

Off to dinner at DancingBear/BreticusMaximus/Possum’s place tonight for enchiladas – there go this week’s carb count.

[207.8]

I’m on opening duty this morning so it’s out of the house at 10:15 – normally would be 10:30, but Saturdays I need to be early to put out the two additional A-Board signs announcing the tasting at 2.

Today’s tasting? A line up of two whites, two reds and a dessert – all French. Details here.

Nice crowds throughout the afternoon, which is good because it was dead, dead, dead in the 11-2 pre-tasting hours.

Left at 4:30 or so, stopping at The Bar-B-Que Pit for a “half” pound of ribs from Pookie – and once again, that “half” pound weighed in at a pound and a half, and I don’t think it there was a pound of sauce on those ribs. The box had 6 or 7 good sized pork ribs, and that was my dinner with a little wine. I totally forgot that I still had cole slaw in the fridge – guess that will be tomorrow’s lunch at the shop. That would be day four of four for me.

My evening was spent watching junk television and going through 175 names from the Summer Faerie Gathering to checking them against the database – which I wouldn’t have had to do if summer’s Queens Registrar they had used the master spreadsheet rather than creating one from scratch. Oh well. Only got though half of the names. At least I don’t need it done for another month.

Fell asleep on the couch watching Saturday Night Live. It must not have been that funny.

[208.3]

Almost broke four digits to the left of the decimal point today at the store – not bad for a Friday. I think with the weather changing, people are drinking more wine. Well, let’s hope so.

Pretty busy day with all the deliveries, getting them checked, paying for them, finding or making shelf cards, pricing and stocking. One of our distributors since 6 bottles of the wrong juice by mistake – we ordered at $15 retail red, they shipped a $48 retail red – as Jim said, I like the mark-up!

Closed up at 7pm and planned to go next door for a couple of Manhattans and a nice dinner – just sit at the bar and relax…. Not a spare seat in the bar or anywhere else.

Guess I’m off to Grocery Outlet to see what doesn’t look too close to the pull date.

Found a couple of bacon wrapped filets for $4.99 for the pair, and some slaw for $1.19. Something tells me I would have spent four times that amount at St. Clouds.

And the end result:

Such is the life of a lowly wine merchant.

[207.7]

A little cooking this afternoon after picking up shredded beef brisket from Jims yesterday – now to brown it (this is pre-browned):

Browned the brisket, separated it into three bowls to dress at the shop with the three kinds of BBQ sauce that we stock. Sliced up three rustica baguettes to apply a spoonful of the bar-b-qued pulled beef brisket on. Yum, yum, yum – I even had some of the bread – a few carbs won’t kill me, they just won’t make me any skinnier.

Lots of people through the shop as you can see – even Jameson who came up from Olympia after working on his rental property for the last two days:

That would be the back of Jameson’s head.

We (Jameson and I) left about 7:30pm and headed home to have a little steak, salad and wine dinner.

As usual, stayed up to late gabbing and I get to work tomorrow for my Monthly Friday.

[207.6]

Steak and eggs for breakfast (I may be spoiling him for his regular diet) and we were out of the condo at 10:30 to drop him home.

I continued up the coast on 101 to Astoria, then across the top of Oregon on US 30, swinging over the bridge to Longview to connect back up with I-5. It’s my preferred route as it has what I believe is the furthest north Burgerville – which makes a damn fine burger using peppered bacon and Tillamook cheese. They also have sweet potato fries and amazing milkshakes, both of which I passed on for the volume of carbs they both contain. And yes, I did eat the bun because they are so tasty.

Made it home a little after 2:30 and rushed around doing some necessary errands (to Jim’s for meat for tomorrow BBQ sauce tasting at the shop, the apartment for package, the post office to mail some urgent documents) and then home to get a few more pictures of the car (my mother’s Miata) that I need to sell as they only have one parking space at El Castillo (the “old folks” – their words, home) – that an my mother is going to fail her vision test next month and there goes the daylight only driver’s license. At 85, it’s time. At 89 my father’s driving is even worse, even though his vision is better – it’s time for him to stop as well. With El Castillo providing transportation to doctor’s appointments, art events, grocery store runs – why drive.

So, here is the car:

And here are the details:

• 1999 Mazda Miata MX-5
• 83,500 (approx.) miles, always garaged in New Mexico
• British Racing Green with Aero Accent package, Tan Roof, Tan Leather Interior
• Glass back window with defrost heater
• AM/FM/Cassette/CD Player with Bose Sound System (really good bass notes)
• Nardi leather wrapped steering wheel
• Power locks, windows, mirrors
• Cruise Control
• Fog Lights
• New Tires at 75,000
• Full Tune-up (including plugs) and Oil Change at 80,000

And here is the price:

• $5600
• Add 3% if you want to use PayPal to cover the fees – but that means you could put it on your Visa or MasterCard and get the airline mile
• Includes jumper-cables, sun shade and an insulated cooler the fits behind the seats in the roof well.

Here is a link to the Kelly Blue Book estimate of sales price.
Although cosmetically the car falls into the Very Good range (it will be detailed next week), it is priced $100 over Very Good since this is the real deal “little old ladies sports car” – though my mother isn’t that little. My father is anal-retentive about keeping his cars in tip-top shape.

Might have one of my friends who is looking at upgrading his Miata to a newer vintage, but until he pulls the trigger, it’s up for grabs. Plates expire at the end of the month, so time is short as I don’t want to register it in my name.

A quiet dinner at home, well, not that quiet, Jill and Murphy The Wonder Dog were here for a lamb and slaw dinner – I seem to be on a lamb streak.

And now I have someone to send to the opera with Jeff since I can’t use the seat since I’m working the late shift that night.

[? ? ?]

Well, once again I’ve gone for the $100 Amex Card to listen to their spiel. Luckily this one is a catered breakfast and an sit-down group update which I actually get a couple of prizes for knowing how WorldMark works – gift bags with candy which I’m sure will appeal to SeasideBoy.

Then comes the sales push. In an ideal world I’d have 63,000 points rather than my current 35,000. Downside? Even at Preferred pricing that’s like $51,000 – and you only get preferred pricing based on a history of not carrying the loan with then (which they end up selling off for 70 cents on the dollar – something that I didn’t know before today). The quandary is that if I was working more I’d sign on, but it I worked more then I wouldn’t have the time to take off.

Other than that it was a lazy day at the coast – couple of errands to run, Fred Meyer for a few last minute things including a set of Tickle Me Elmo boxers (not for me), and to ATT to get his phone turned back on for text.

With his Xbox fixation we didn’t even get to the movie I’d picked up at the front desk.

Dinner was a repeat of Monday but with the addition of three little lamb steaks and the ability to use the grill as the wind had died down. He claimed he didn’t like lamb but posted to FaceBook later that it was awesome – I think what he didn’t like is mutton, rather than tiny t-bones.

My final night in Seaside alas.

[? ? ?] No carbs today unless you count that piece of Halloween-size candy I snarfed.

Needless to say, after the late night we weren’t moving too quickly this morning. It was a little before noon when we got to Pine State Biscuits. The boys split some grits, a hash-up and a side of black-eyed peas (think Southern breakfast) while I opted to disavow my low-carb diet and have the Money Ball which is biscuits and gravy topped with an easy over egg and topped off with a Mimosa. Damn fine food all the way around.

Two hours later I’m rolling into Seaside to see the boy, a.k.a. SeasideBoy. The plan is for two nights and for once he will be staying with me – usually he heads back to his house for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, on tonight’s menu are a couple of steaks that I picked up on the 30-50% off rack at the Seaside Safeway, and a bunch of cole slaw.

Only one small problem – the wind coming off the ocean is doing about 30mph and it’s impossible to keep the grill lit. The solution, use both burners of the cooktop and the supplied griddle:

You do what you gotta do when you are roughing it.

And luckily he brought along his Xbox 360 to amuse himself while I worked on the computer – too bad I could never get my wi-fi setup to work – maybe they’ve figured out how to prevent that.

To bed MUCH earlier than last night.

[? ? ?]

Not a bad Sunday at the office – lots of late day action which I’m starting to see as a trend. Sales were over what I like to think of as the Sunday minimum ($500).

But the long day really started before the office, with the final packing and loading of the trunk, and after the office with a three hour drive south to Portland in a driving (no pun intended) rain.

But this was what was waiting for me at the other end…

Jameson made a great meal for me, which made up for snacking all afternoon.

We both tried to wait up for Julian to get off work, but apparently fell asleep around 3am and he came home at 3:30am.

[210.5]

Out of the motel before 9am which should put in me in Seattle in time for the wine tasting that starts at 2pm… just barely made it with the freakish Seattle traffic… that and I close today as well.

Thank goodness for cruise control – just set it 5mph over and don’t worry about it.

It was wild at the wine tasting – at two there was a swarm of people and we were out of the sample bottles at 4pm and had to open something else to serve the rest of the day. Decent day money-wise.

WoodWorkerJosh stopped by at the end of the day to drop off some of his whiskey and wine experiments (and give me $15 for his web domain renewal), then it was off to Swandas for dinner. Andouille sausage, carmamelized onions, slaw, and a nice bottle of Madrona Wines Monthly Four Vines Petite Syrah.

How annoying that:

1. The city now has pay parking up to 8pm
2. I can no longer park underground at Swandas with the new gate system – they even switched to a fob in/fob out system meaning you just can’t use someones card to let a third party out.

Well, I guess that cinches Swanda moving next March (or is it April).

The rest of my evening was spent packing to Sunday’s trip to Portland to visit the boys (Jameson and Julian). I’ll be leaving from work so it’s pack and load now.

[? ? ?]

After yesterday’s 13 hour drive I’ve decided to add a stop in the journey as to not make it another 13 hour drive, merely a 9 hour drive (but I gain an hour crossing into Oregon).

Not so many pictures today as Southern Idaho is not nearly as photogenic – looks more like Kansas with all the flatness and farming.

So, today we only have one photo, and this one is in honor of my friend Bliss:

Hopefully you can see that this is the exit to Bliss.

Today’s stop is in Pendleton, Oregon where I’m staying at the same TraveLodge (now remodeled) that I stayed in on one other road trip. A shout-out to Kelvan, the cute native boy working the front counter.

I even ate at the same restaurant (The Hamley Steakhouse) where I had the calamari appetizer along with an apple-smoked gouda-lettuce side salad with a Hamley’s Whiskey on the rocks. The whiskey is made in Joseph, Oregon and it tasted like it had been speed aged in small oak barrels, not bad, and at $6, not too overpriced. Or it could be that since its 100% wheat-based, that is the taste profile.

It was nice to break this day up – much nicer to drive 9hours and get in before dinner rather than before bedtime.

[? ? ?]